Kenilworth couple backing specialist ambulance service after it helped save premature son's life

A Kenilworth couple is encouraging people to donate to a specialist ambulance service after it helped save their premature son’s life.

Mark and Robyn Morrey’s son, Spencer, was born six weeks early and spent the first ten days of his life in special care, before returning home just in time for Christmas.

Spencer, now two, made a full recovery

But a few weeks later, Spencer experienced difficulty breathing and was taken to hospital where doctors decided he needed urgent specialist care.

Spencer was quickly transferred by the newly merged Kids Intensive Care and Decision Support Service and Neonatal Transfer Service (NTS), hosted at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, to a specialist intensive care unit.

Mark praised the speed and kindness of the team who looked after Spencer during the journey.

He said: “The team worked incredibly, quickly and efficiently to get Spencer to where he needed to be.

“But what was incredible was the care they took with us – explaining exactly what was going on and offering reassurance.

“They even provided us with a drink and a bar of chocolate, which may sound insignificant, but it was exactly what we needed because we just hadn’t been thinking of ourselves.

“I hadn’t heard of the KIDS/NTS service, but after Spencer’s incident we are so thankful for their expertise and skill.”

Spencer, now two, was able to make a full recovery. He was one of around 2,000 babies, children and young people moved by the KIDS/NTS service every year.

And because of their experience, Mark and Robyn are now backing Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s new £2 million Critical Journeys Appeal.

The appeal is raising money to fit four Critical Care Ambulances with life-saving equipment similar to the kit that saved Spencer.

It will also enable the KIDS/NTS service to respond faster, helping critically ill patients and their families get to the right place, at the right time, for the right treatment.

Finally, the appeal will help the service continue to deliver specialist care with compassion, by providing parents and children with comforts such as phone chargers, snacks, teddy bears and DVDs as a welcome distraction in their time of need.

Dr Alex Philpott of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are committed to providing the best service possible for all our sick children.

“Upgrading equipment and fully kitting out all four ambulances will effectively take our service from a gold standard service to platinum, helping us to be response-ready and allowing us to move more patients with the same level of specialist equipment used in specialist care.”

Anyone wishing to donate can visit bch.org.uk/appeal/donate, texting TIME18 £5 to donate £5, or hold their own fundraising event. Ideas for fundraisers can be found at bch.org.uk/ways-to-fundraise.